Battle of Brands

I want to thank my boy DS DAN for recomending this article clipping from NiceKicks.

Nike just released photos of the US Olympic Basketball team, but there has been a little bit of controversy spreading online about the placement of Dwight Howard’s hand and Coach K’s foot. Dwight Howard is the only USA Team member who is signed with a non-Nike affiliated brand.

Those are the facts, but with any controversy all that matters are opinions. Do you think that Nike, being the official sponsor of the USA Olympic Team and host of this photo shoot, intentionally placed Dwight Howard where he is with Coach K’s foot obstructing his foot to block the Adidas logos? You make the call after the jump. Via NiceKicks

After reading the comments made I notice myself getting frustrated with the lack of knowledge these so called Sneakerheads have of the industry they support. Comments such as:

1. isnt wade sponsored by converse?

   Comment by tfizzle — July 10, 2008 @ 9:42 am

2. ohhh now i get it converse is owned by nike ! but isnt chris paul and carmelo anthony sponsored by jordan?! man im confused.

   Comment by tfizzle — July 10, 2008 @ 9:56 am

3. so why does his jersey have a nike sign if his shorts done thats real smart!!!!!!!!!!

   Comment by ajacent — July 10, 2008 @ 9:58 am

4. yeah i was thinking the same thing, dwade is sponsored by whack converse so they should have covered that ugly stuff up too!!!!!

   Comment by steven — July 10, 2008 @ 10:08 am

5. SOMEONE ANSWER ME! if wade is sponsored by converse?! and converse is OWNED by NIKE, then carmelo and chris paul are SPONSORED BY JORDAN?! is that a controversy?! IM CONFUSED ! HELP MEE ! man this is gona drive me crazzyy.

   Comment by tfizzle — July 10, 2008 @ 10:11 am

The post had an amazing 64 Post and as you can notice, the same dummy posted the most dumb questions. Yes the photo was done on purpose. Dwight has an Adidas shoe endorsement. That does not affect his uniform. Who you think makes his NBA uniform. Well actually touching on that I wonder how many people knew Mitchell and Ness was bought out by Adidas because Adidas is now the official manufacturer of league jerseys. LETS GET IT WITH THE SWEAT SHOP APPLICATIONS! Nike owns Converse although Converse operates under their own brand name. Jordan Brand is a sub group of Nike but is distributed and manufactured through Nike. It's no coincidence that Coach K's shoe just happens to cover both his size 15+ feet. Nike's about that money. Advertising all their brand extensions.